Doom Continued
by penguinfragger
Summary: Follow a group of survivors after the invasion on Earth. Chapter five under way yes, five! I don't count the prologue. R&R please. TRASHED FIC, NO MORE UPDATES.
1. Prologue

Two years after the catastrophe that wiped out the UAC Base on Mars.

Following the incident, with hundreds of missing or dead people on their charge, along with a non negligible load of demons, the UAC sank quite rapidly. It was a harsh moment for global economy, as the UAC represented Earth's greatest population. A wave of tens of thousands of unemployed people invaded the market. All of the former UAC's bases and laboratories were condemned and abandoned. Most importantly, the United Nations army had to be moved into Martian orbit and fought for over a month with the demon legion, eliminating them down to the last one, at the cost of many lives. The mars base was bombarded and utterly destroyed a week later. It took several years for the scandal to cool down and abate, but in the end the general opinion believed that the case was over, the UAC was dead and all of its experiments with it. They were _dead _wrong.

If only UAC scientists had examined those runes more in detail, they would have uncovered even more secrets concerning that former civilisation. They would have found out that what they had discovered until then had been created at the war's beginning, and represented all the race's hopes. It was _not_ what had really happened. They would have found out that humanity did _not_ descend from this race, and that there _never_ was any super warrior. The race in question had fought for dozens of years, fought desperately, but it had been exterminated in the end by the hellish legions. And once Evil had been awoken, it _never_ died. It only slept in watchfulness, awaiting a new occasion to bring havoc and destruction into the inhabited worlds. It had taken the spark humanity represented to bring it roaring back to life, and it had only momentarily been stopped by the destruction of the Hell Gate and the UAC's teleportals. The demons were cunning, and would find another way to enter our dimension. It all began again with a simple story…

It had been a week since Earl Rodgers had disappeared while jogging in the forest. From what authorities could determine, he jogged into the forest around six thirty AM one morning, and never came out. About a week later, several reports came in of a strange beast lurking on the wood's borders. People were afraid. It was then the turn of a group of rash young campers who disappeared one night in the forest. This time though, evident traces of slaughter were found. A bloody camp ground, several limbs and innards lay strewn around the place. It was a real butchery. The local police department mounted an expedition in the forest. Fifteen armed men with dogs entered one night. What they found was terrifying. They slew the hellish creature, at the cost of six men. The affair was muffled and the carcass was burned. Nonetheless, evidence was taken, tissue samples and pictures, which were later compared to samples taken back by the marines after the "cleaning" of the mars base. The tissues corresponded. The creature was identified as the species called "Hell Knight". Though the UN muffled the case as best they could, even going as far as to "suppress" several babbling persons, the entire world's surveillance systems were put on alert. Every country was to survey their territory for unnatural power fluctuations. In order to open a dimension portal for the first time, an immense quantity of brute energy was required. Once that gap had been created however, the power needed to transfer material objects, in this case demons, from one dimension to the other was minimal. Very little was known of how the demons created the breaches in the fabric of space and time, and for all the UN scientists could tell, they could only be taken in one direction, and could not be closed again once opened. For the first few days, invasion had been deflected by the simple method of detect and destroy. Scientists could locate a breach up to twenty four hours before it opened into their dimension, because of the abnormal power concentration in that area. The army would gather a small force at the gate and destroy the demon before it went wild. But that method was of course doomed to failure.

First of all, if a breach was opened in a public area, say in the middle of a street, the army would have trouble hiding the affair from the public. Second, the portals were becoming more and more numerous, and with the fact of having to leave a constant guard on already opened portals, armed forces were beginning to spread dangerously thin over the globe. Rumours began to spread of beasts lurking in mountains or forests, and hundreds of places throughout the world became considered as "haunted". The situation rapidly degenerated out of control. Dozens of creatures began to appear every day, some in public areas such as Sidney. The worst accident happened when a Hell Knight appeared on the roof of the Sidney opera and jumped down onto the solid ground, where he slew five people before he was mastered by local police. The population was terrified. No one was safe. Sometimes creatures would appear inside buildings, inside offices or even in underground facilities such as subway stations or tracks. In a matter of weeks, the world plunged into chaos. The population panicked and went, for the most part, insane. Anarchy swept over the planet and in a matter of weeks, several million casualties were to deplore. Any real resistance was whipped out in a matter of days; most of the world's armies were dispersed or slaughtered within the first week. Though humanity as we presently know it was considered as ended, there were some who survived the initial onslaught…


	2. I Postapocalypse

A few lines in here are in French, but there's a translation each time.

Paris, France

Invasion time plus twelve days

Jamie squirmed in her bed as she woke up to the red light of day. She cracked her eyes open, and shut them quickly to avoid getting any dust in them. She rolled over and checked the time on her battered alarm clock. Three-thirty in the afternoon. With a grunt, she pushed herself up onto her feet, and dressed quickly in jeans and a tattered T-shirt. She walked over to the "door" of her "apartment" and peered outside. Nothing in sight. Jamie lived in a small room of an apartment building, on the ground floor. A corner had been torn off, which allowed entry, for the normal door was blocked with rubble. The second floor had caved in in places, not leaving much inhabitable space. She had set up a bed in one corner, and had cleared enough of the rubble in the doorway to make some sort of shelf out of it. That was where she lived. All she possessed was her mattress, a few clothes and oddments, a flashlight, and a survival knife she always carried with her. She knew it wouldn't be much use if she ever got caught by one of those…things…but you can never be too careful.

She sheathed her knife, poked her nose outside again to see if the way was clear, and hoped out of her cave, as she called it. She arrived on the sidewalk of a small street, on the outskirts of town. This was her street, her home. Today, she was going to the supermarket to see if there was anything left. She had been getting her food there for the last week, and she knew it wouldn't last forever. When that ran out, she didn't know where she'd look…and she'd rather not think of it. She walked briskly down the dusty sidewalk, keeping alert for any sign of a creature. She hadn't seen any in this street since she lived here, but she had nonetheless confectioned some sort of "curtain" she could draw down over the opening of her cave, if she ever spotted something outside that got too interested in her. In fact the curtain was a structural weakness of the second floor, which, if she prodded it right, would collapse over the opening and seal her in. It was a one-time use though, and she doubted she would be able to get out if she triggered it.

The street was full of rubble and dust. Derelict cars were still parked along the side, long overdue of their stay. A few rotting corpses lay in ditches, which brought an acrid smell to the place. Jamie turned left at the first intersection and walked for another fifty or so meters, until she reached the supermarket. The building was still more or less intact, and she was able to climb in through a shattered window. She landed on the dusty floor, and immediately pinched her nose. If she thought the smell in the street was bad, it was nothing compared to this. The whole meat section was rotten, and there were a few corpses lying around with flies happily buzzing around them. It seemed as though a group of people had tried to barricade themselves inside, since the door was caved in but not open, and all the windows were smashed. Not very smart, she thought. She jumped over the cash, and walked down a dark and musty lane, pulling out her flashlight to light up the boxes and cans that lined the shelves. A crunching sound came from a few lanes away. She swivelled and crouched, hiding the beam of her flashlight. Crunch, crunch, crunch. It sounded as if something or someone were walking on broken glass. A faint moan came from the same direction. Half relieved, Jamie stood up again and showed her flashlight in that direction. A man stumbled clumsily down the hall, stared at her light stupidly for a few seconds, and began stumbling towards her. Just another stupid zombie, she thought, not worth getting worried about. She just had to be careful it didn't follow her home. She hastily picked up a few rations, careful to give the meat section a wide berth, and tore up a few cardboard boxes at the exit, which she took with her. She clambered back out the window, checked to see that the zombie was still wandering around inside the building, and jumped out onto the street.

She jogged back towards the intersection when something caught her attention again. Someone was calling. She listened carefully, and she distinctly heard a voice yelling in English, a language which she didn't speak. Zombies don't speak…with that thought, she broke into a full run towards the source of the voice. It was coming a block away from her…whoever it was, was on her street. She ran around the corner, and saw a man wandering down the street, apparently calling for help, seeming utterly lost. She called back to him and he swivelled around, seeming quite relieved that someone had heard his call. She ran up to meet him and…there was an embarrassing moment where nobody said anything. She hadn't seen anyone in a week and hadn't expected she ever would again. The man seemed equally bewildered, and finally decided to speak.

"My name is Kurt, I…was lost you see, I, err…it's a bit hard to explain, would you mind…"

He noticed that she didn't understand a word he was saying.

"Do you speak English, ma'am?"

Jamie shook her head.

"Un little peu…enfin…French ?"

Kurt slapped himself. How stupid of him. Of course she spoke French; he was in Paris for Christ's sake! He tried to articulate a few words in French, asking her if she had a home and if she could possibly help him hide for a while. Jamie nodded and led him down the street to her cave, and clambered in. He somewhat hesitantly climbed inside, adapting to the gloom. She tossed him her flashlight with a smirk. She was so used to it; she didn't even notice how dark the place was anymore. Kurt sat down on the floor and began to speak again.

"I am part of a special ops squad, I…"

Jamie was looking at him blankly. He apologized and started over.

"Je fais partie d'un groupe spécial d'intervention. Nous sommes basés à Londres, et avons envoyés une expédition à Paris pour essayer de ramener des survivants. Mais mon groupe a été attaqué et je crois que je suis le seul survivant. Ma radio ne marche plus, et je ne peux plus contacter le QG à Londres…je ne sais même pas s'il sont toujours vivants...»

(I am part of a special intervention squad. We are based in London and sent an expedition to Paris to try and gather survivors. But my squad was attacked and I think I'm the only survivor. My radio doesn't work anymore, and I can't contact HQ in London…I don't even know if they're still alive…)

Kurt lowered his head. Jamie seemed quite incredulous, unable to believe her luck. Not only did she meet another normal person, but this person was a fighter too! Kurt, however, seemed to guess what she was thinking, and added:

"Je ne suis pas un grand combattant. J'ai perdu mon arme et mes munitions durant l'embuscade, et il ne me reste plus que ça avec une poignée de cartouches.»

(I am not a great fighter. I lost my weapon and my ammunition during the ambush, and all I have left is this and a handful of rounds.)

He unholstered a 9mm service pistol and toyed around with it, before putting it back in its place. Jamie introduced herself, and told him how she had come to be here. She had escaped her home when a demon had spawned in the cellar, jumping out her window and running like hell. For all she knew, the thing had whipped out her entire family. She had hidden in the alleys for a few days, feeding off garbage, spending most of her time in hiding, watching as demons destroyed the entire city, until things calmed down and she found this place. Kurt nodded and looked at his watch, which was cracked. It showed twenty past two in the morning, and he sighed. He glanced at Jamie's clock, which showed four in the afternoon. In any case, time didn't matter anymore. No one was busy, no one had any appointments, other than with death. After another awkward moment of silence, Jamie unpacked her provisions and handed Kurt a can of cold ravioli. He took it gingerly, nodding his thanks, and tossed it from hand to hand as the grabbed another one and popped it open with her survival knife.

Grabbing the cardboard remains she had brought with her, she lit a small and brief fire in the middle of the room, in which they both set their cans. A grunt from outside caught their attention. Jamie had her knife in hand in the flick of an eye, crouching in a corner, while Kurt flattened himself against a wall and extinguished their small fire…they both listened. Something large was tramping down the street, snuffling as it went. The thing growled deeply as it breathed, which told them this was no zombie. Thudding footsteps came closer and closer to their hideout, until a looming shape almost totally obscured the entrance. The thing stopped dead in its tracks, snuffling wildly around. Kurt turned to Jamie and whispered:

"Un Hell Knight. Il a du nous flairer. Il ne peut pas nous voir, mais il peut nous sentir et nous entendre. Restez silencieuse.»

(A Hell Knight. He must have caught our scent. He can't see us, but he can smell and hear us. Keep quiet.)

Jamie nodded silently and relaxed her stance slightly, keeping her gaze steadily locked on the behemoth. The creature's muscular frame was quite humanoid; it stood on two trunk-like legs, and balanced a club-like arm on each side. Its head was basically a giant mouth, having no eyes or nose to speak of. Slavering fangs glimmered and seemed to hypnotize Jamie as she watched. The thing snuffled and snarled, but didn't seem able to locate them. For what it could tell, they had just disappeared at this street corner. With a low growl of frustration, the beast retraced its steps, moving at a decent clip now that it had given up the hunt. They both relaxed slightly but stayed on guard. Those things were smart enough to bluff. Jamie sheathed her knife again, and Kurt slumped down the wall and lay there, gazing into emptiness. She had been very close to making a leaping jump to "draw the curtain", but had restrained herself, not wanting to imprison another person inside with her. Turning to face the man, she asked him to tell her more about his special ops squad, and if there was any hope they may be rescued from this hellhole. Kurt snorted, as if to say "in your dreams", and began to speak.

_To be continued _


	3. II Special ops

Fic rated for some blood, gore, and violent language.

Paris, France

Invasion time plus eleven days

"Jericho, get the lock"

"Aye sir"

Jericho crouched and began picking at the heavy lock. The squad was deployed so as to warmly greet anything that might come through the door, so he didn't risk much. In a matter of seconds, a few clicks indicated that the door was open, and Jake busted it down with a kick. Nothing but gloom and dust seemed to come out of the place.

"Kurt, take point. Nightvision on. Move in squad!"

The team slowly moved in, turning on their nightvision goggles, with Kurt in the lead, holding his rifle steadily in front of him. They had been sent to Paris to gather any survivors and bring them back to HQ, which had lately turned into a quite populated place. The special ops squad had been beefed up by several hundred volunteers, who were sent on rescue missions throughout the country. This allowed the original members to engage on much more far-fetched missions, such as this little trip to France and back. Their headquarters were in London, and was where all operations were directed from. The six men crept into the museum's main hall, inspecting every corner for any sign of movement. They had received a distress call from coordinates that turned out to be inside the museum about four hours ago. There was a blur of motion and three rifles erupted with fire, shredding several wooden bookshelves that lined the walls.

"Switching to thermal" muttered the ape.

He was nicknamed that way because he would go totally ape-shit every time something got him on his nerves, and had an annoying tendency to blast things or people that did. He took a couple of steps towards the right, but was stopped by the leader.

"Ape, keep position, don't break formation or we're all meat."

Looking quite frustrated, ape regained his position between Jake and Jericho. The coordinates appeared to be inside a room about fifty meters ahead of them. The only problem was that they now stood in front of a solid wall.

"Dimitri, see if you can download the map of the place."

Dimitri was a Russian computer specialist that had joined the squad five years before. He was the newest and also the youngest member of the group, being only twenty-five. He slinged his rifle and began tipping away on a small arm-mounted computer. A minute later he whispered.

"Bingo, got it. Take a right folks, and down a couple of flights of staircases. The call seems to have come from an underground level."

The squad moved on, keeping on guard, for about fifteen meters, until they reached a narrow and clanky service staircase leading downwards. Kurt led the way, two levels down, and the team assembled at the bottom of the stairs.

"Target is forty meters away" Said Jake.

The underground level was a mess. Chairs, boxes, books and all sorts of things littered the floor, shelves were lying on their face, desks were upturned, and a horrible smell of decay was in the air. They moved on, until they finally reached their target. They passed a smashed barricade where a dozen corpses lay rotting, and entered their room through a large steel door, torn open by what looked like claws. They stepped inside, and immediately made a cross on finding any survivors. About fifty dead bodies were strewn across the ground, some with their innards splashed over the floor, some torn to shreds…it was a very grisly sight. Jericho, looking quite green, leaned against a wall, holding his stomach.

"Bogey at our nine" Muttered Kurt.

The squad swiveled and saw four stupid zombies stumbling around amongst the corpses, slowly making their way towards them. A few rapid-fire bursts and the undead toppled over, little chunks of flesh and bone flying wildly in the air.

"That wasn't what I meant." Kurt whispered. "I mean real bogeys. We got about thirty radar signals incoming fast. They're on the ceiling and the walls. They're coming _through_ the walls."

"What's the Extraction plan?" Asked ape nervously.

"We make for the exit by the most direct route. Dimitri, is their any way to avoid the stairs?"

They all knew that staircases were about the best place you could come up with if you wanted to get ambushed.

"There's an elevator down the corridor, about thirty meters to our right…"

"All right. Back to back work, squad! Let's move! We're not leaving anyone down here!"

They ran out and took a right down the hallway. Screeches were coming from everywhere, and sounds of scampering feet and claws were following them. They were only ten meters from the elevator. Suddenly, with a roar, ape about-faced and let rip with his rifle. Dimitri and Jake turned to cover him, while the leader barked about not stopping and keeping moving. Meanwhile, Jericho and Kurt found the way barred by at least a dozen hideous human-like creatures. Their rock-hard skin was brownish gray, pockmarked like the surface of the moon. Their head was _covered_ with little angry red eyes that stared at them unblinkingly. They opened fire, tearing several of the things apart with lead. Leader kneeled beside Jericho and let rip with his rifle. They were caught in a pinch. A horrible yell came from behind, and Kurt swiveled around to see ape on his back, one of those bitches on top of him, both of them locked in a death struggle. They were way to close together to get in a clear shot. Ape sent out his fist, which locked with the creature's jaw, snapping its head sideways and blowing blood out of its mouth, but the blow seemed to hurt him just as much. The thing turned its gaze back on ape, who unsheathed his combat knife and was about to hack at its arm to break free of its grasp. Before he could lift his arm, however, the creature plunged its claw-like fingers deep into ape's abdomen, grabbing his intestines like an iron clamp. It savagely tore out his innards, ape struggling in vain, waving his knife in the air, loosing his strength rapidly. With another slash it tore through his throat, and ape was left on the ground gargling, grasping his throat as he drowned in his own blood.

"Motherfuckers !" Shrieked Jake.

Kurt had never seen him move so fast. In the blink of an eye, he was on top of the creature, smashing its skull apart with his rifle butt, screaming every curse he could come up with as he did so. Dimitri, meanwhile, was being overwhelmed, being the only one firing on their front. Kurt turned and pointed his rifle at a creature that had just jumped right over Jake and the dying monster, and was lifting a hand to strike at Dimitri. The burst caught the bitch in the throat, flipping its head clean off its shoulders. Dimitri gave him an appreciative nod, and turned back to face the onslaught. Jake was just getting back on his feet as he was knocked down by a leaping creature. His rifle toppled out of his hands, and he groped for any kind of weapon. His hand came across one of ape's hand grenades, and a bonfire lit itself in his eyes. Grenades in close quarters? Totally crazy! All the better. Almost gleefully, he grabbed the explosive, even as the creature dug its claws into his chest, tearing as his vital organs. He armed it, and with his last strength, shoved it into the things mouth. The creature instinctively tried to swallow the grenade and began chocking on it, and Jake, getting on his knees, grabbed it around the waist and ran with his last shred of strength into the thick of the enemy lines. A second later, the detonation rocked the entire building, shredding everything in a five meter radius, blowing Dimitri cleanly off his feet and sending him flying towards his friends, where he lay motionless. Kurt, Jericho, and leader turned to see the coast clear behind them, though bits of flesh pasted the floor, walls and ceiling.

"Go go go !" Yelled leader.

He and Jericho grabbed the unconscious Dimitri, while Kurt covered their back, blasting any creature that came too close. They ran as fast as they could, until they reached the dratted stairs again, and began clambering upwards. A loud roar came from above, like nothing they had heard up till now. Kurt's heart sank. He had only ever heard a sound like that once before, and that had been in London, when a Hell Knight had destroyed one of their outposts, killing almost everyone on place. They continued upwards, and reached the ground floor, a dozen creatures screeching as they pursued them upwards. Kurt fired until his rifle went dry. With a panicked squeak, he began reloading, which seemed to take an age. He watched as if in slow motion as one of the creatures broke out from the lot and made a tremendous leap for the ceiling, "landing" right above the three men he was covering. The thing let itself drop right in front of them, letting out a blood-chilling shriek, and lifting up its claws. However, before it could indulge in the pleasant activity of eating them alive, a giant fist caught it in the ribs, smashing its torso and sending it flying across the room, where it crashed into a wall and landed in a bloody heap. From behind a wall, out stomped the Hell Knight, who let out another roar. Dimitri was barely opening his eyes.

"Run !" Yelled Jericho, seemingly going insane.

He dropped Dimitri's arm, who managed to catch himself from falling, and ran like hell towards the exit. The goddamn door was in sight. He could see the goddamn light of day. He suddenly realized his feet weren't running anymore, but kicking into air. The Hell Knight held him around the waist in an impenetrable grasp, and let out a roar. Dimitri grabbed his rifle and leveled it at the thing's chest and fired a sustained burst. The bullets dug into its flesh but didn't seem to do any major damage to the beast. Leader and Kurt grabbed him by the arm and ran for the exit, even as the Hell Knight brought Jericho's flailing body to his mouth and took a large bit out of his flank. Jericho afterwards lay limply in its grasp, his innards dangling from the hole in his side. As they ran, Kurt noticed more movement out of the corner of his eye. No, not now, _please_….they were so close, the exit was only twenty meters away! Suddenly, Dimitri stumbled in his tracks and didn't get up again. Something jagged was sticking out from between his shoulder blades. The two surviving men ran like hell but knew they wouldn't make it. Two dozen creatures barred the way and were closing in on them. Leader turned to look at Kurt, giving him one of the heaviest looks he had ever seen on his face. Kurt then noticed that he was holding the pins of all four of his grenades in his hands.

"Run kid. Get out of here."

With those words, he ran straight into the fray of creatures, and a split-second later the quadruple explosion blew them all to shreds, leaving a clear path of exit for Kurt. He ran as fast as he had ever ran, leaping out of the door and straight down the street, not looking back. He ran until his legs failed him. He then crawled into a back alley and lay himself down between two piles of garbage bags, and fell into a deep slumber at once. The next day, as he wandered the streets in search of survivors (hell, it was his mission after all), he actually met someone, a young French woman by the name of Jamie.

_To be continued_


	4. III Extraction

Fic rated for some blood, gore and violent language.

Oh, and I screwed the french lines, it busted the rhythm. Whenever someone talks to the french girl, just assume it's in french :)

Paris, France

Invasion time plus thirteen days

The wind was blowingthrough the deserted streets of Paris, lifting up dust and a stench of death. The only sound to break the silence were the furtive steps of Jamie and Kurt as they walked down the street, eyes wide open. Kurt had his sidearm ready, and Jamie's hand was hovering over her sheathed knife, their tension was almost palpable. This was the first time in a week that Jamie had been as far away from her cave, and it scared the shit out of her. She shivered every time she thought of what she had been through in the few days between her flight from home and her finding of the cave. She could still remember the people screaming and chaos sweeping through the streets as a legion of demons brought hell to Earth.

Her will hardened, however, as she realised that her family had surely been among the screaming and dying. Had she let them down by fleeing ? Something seemed to turn to stone inside her, some grim determination, a deep longing for _death_. Jamie shook herself. She had almost slipped off into a daydream, in the worst imaginable place to do so. Kurt turned to check on her and motioned for her to keep moving. This whole thing was his idea after all. Jamie thought worriedly about the place getting to their heads…if he went berserk they would both die for sure.

Kurt's plan was to make for his team's extraction point. His shuttle was meant to pick up the team and any survivors they had found and bring them back to HQ in London. Just how surprised they would be to see this rag tag soldier and french girl, Jamie couldn't guess. Did they really come here to collect survivors? I mean, it's a bit late, she thought. Not many people must have survived this long after the invasion. In any case, if she could get out of this place, she would, even if it meant walking straight into some other hellhole.

They walked on for what seemed like hours, until they finally reached what must have been a park. What remained now, however, was a burnt patch of earth surrounded by crumbling buildings. Kurt stopped dead in his tracks and knelt down behind a pile of rubble, motioning to Jamie to do likewise. Peering out from behind their refuge, she could see, across the park, some large form move around with thudding footfalls. Kurt quickly checked his arm-mounted CPU and announced that their extraction point lay beyond the road the beast was blocking. The only other road that seemed to lead in the same general direction had been completely blocked off by rubble, and any other route meant at least thirty minutes of extra walk, and even at a brisk pace, they would have trouble reaching the extraction point in time, and that was without counting with any "unexpected encounters".

Kurt motioned to Jamie, and together they ran towards a small hill of rubble and charred earth in a half-crouched position, and flattened themselves behind it. Peering over the top, Kurt could see the beast shuffling around, dragging what looked like a horribly mutilated human torso in one hand. The head and one of the arms had been torn, or rather chewed off, and the whole bottom section was missing. Intestines and other innards were dangling out of its mutilated abdomen. The demon, a large muscular creature standing on two legs, looked vaguely like a Hell Knight except for its protruding fangs and large goat-like horns. Its legs ended in hoofs, giving it a strange, almost comical goat-like appearance. Anyone who came within its grasp, however, would quickly learn that it was not to be mistaken for a goat. Kurt starred at it for a about a minute, muttering to himself, before turning to Jamie, a grim look on his face.

"Well" He said "looks like we're gonna have to find a way around it"

He began examining the buildings along the street, looking for any scalable area, or any back alley that they could slip through. Meanwhile, the demon had stopped dead in its tracks and had begun sniffing the air. Jamie watched as it snuffled loudly, looking wildly around. It must have caught their scent, she thought. She shook Kurt lightly by the arm just as he was inspecting an old hotel, and whispered to him. As he drew his gaze towards the demon, their eyes met, and the creature gave a deafening roar. It threw the corpse it was holding onto the ground, and began stomping towards them at an alarming pace.

"Shit!"

He grabbed her by the arm and began running towards the hotel he had noticed. It was standing next to a small apartment building, and they may actually be able to clamber through the windows to get into it, and thus confuse the demon. So far, however, the demon was rapidly closing the distance between itself and its prey. They ran through the main door, and the beast crashed through it a couple of seconds later. They ran up the stairs, nearly stumbling with their momentum, and heard the demon stomping up behind them, letting out another ear-splitting roar. They found themselves in a narrow and dusty hallway, and took a left in the direction of the apartment building they were trying to get to. They ran to the end of the hallway, entered the nearest room, and barricaded the door with a closet. Without loosing a second, Kurt ran to the window and pulled it open. It was about a meter and a half jump to a small ledge on the face of the other building. He helped Jamie through the window, as the demon began smashing on the door. Just as she jumped, the door and closet splintered apart, and in came their pursuer, roaring madly. It threw a small table at Kurt, which it must have picked up in the hallway, and he had to roll to the side to avoid it. The thing closed in on him, and he made a dash for the window. Just as he swung his right leg over the sill however, he felt an iron grip close on his other leg. Almost effortlessly, the demon pulled him back through the window and held him upside down, dangling by one leg. Kurt drew his handgun and fired into the creature's arm, but he might as well have been holding a peashooter. The creature lifted him up, slowly, contemplating his catch before he devoured it. Kurt thought he could almost see a sadistic smile crawl across its hideous face. Before it had time to begin feasting however, something came swishing through the window and the demon roared in pain. It dropped Kurt to the floor, clutching its wrist and trashing about. On the ground lay Jamie's bloodied combat knife, alongside it was one of the creature's fingers.

Not waiting one more second, Kurt made a run for the window and leapt out, crashing into the opposite wall and holding on for dear life. He managed to make his way through the opposite window, helped by Jamie, who was still keeping an eye on the rapidly recovering demon.

"Thanks" He said, out of breath.

They didn't linger around long, as the demon began trying to climb through the window itself, not finding any better way to pursue them. Realizing it was too big to pass through the frame, it began smashing away at the wall with its fists, punching large holes through it at each hit, in the intention of making one big enough for itself. Kurt and Jamie, however, were already outside. They ran down the street without stopping or looking back for at least fifteen minutes, until at last they slumped down at an intersection to catch their breath. Noon was ticking close, and they only had ten minute left if they wanted to reach the extraction point in time. It was only a couple of blocks away now. They ran the remaining distance in two minutes flat, and came to a wide open area, where several buildings appeared to have been totally razed. They stood there waiting for a while, not speaking to each other, simply grateful to be alive, until at last they heard the faint sound of a shuttle approaching. A few seconds later, it became visible as a tiny speck heading towards them. As it began its descent, it reduced its speed and came to hover a dozen meters above the ground before lowering itself vertically. It came to hover only half a meter above the ground, and Jamie and Kurt climbed inside. The pilot seemed to hesitate for a second. Then the interior com unit crackled, and a voice flooded into the compartment

"Are you the only ones left?"

"Aff, take off pronto"

The doors sealed themselves shut, and the shuttle shot back into the air and headed back in the direction it had come from.

Kurt and Jamie lay slumped on seats at the back of the hold, when the pilot stepped inside to meet them.

"Jesus Kurt, you look like you've been through hell. What happened down there? Where's the rest of the team?"

"Dead, James. We were ambushed in the museum. We showed up too late to recover any survivors who may have set off the distress beacon, and the things that killed them were still there. We were mowed down in the sublevels. I was the only one to get out alive. I picked up this french girl on my way back, but she doesn't understand a word of English."

James nodded, smiled, and came to sit beside them, setting his helmet between his feet.

"We'll be arriving in about an hour. I suggest you two get some rest, you look pretty out."

Before he had finished speaking, however, Jamie had fallen into a deep sleep, her head lolling onto his shoulder.

"What's been happening in London, James? Any success in our other operations?"

"Yeah, we've got a couple samples back, but I've gotta tell ya you're not the only team we lost. We lost contact with four of our five German teams."

"Damn. We're really getting these things at a high price… I hope it's worth it."

"So do I" Muttered James. "So do I."

They sat in silence as the shuttle's autopilot guided it straight to London HQ, shooting through the reddish sky like a meteor.


	5. IV London, part I

London, England

Invasion time plus twelve days

"Incoming transmission sir, the Paris team is on its way back. They took some losses, but got the sample. They should be arriving in about sixty-five minutes."

Robertson nodded to the tech, who turned back to his computer monitor, and walked slowly down the hallway which was bustling with activity, mulling over the situation. He came to a large windowed bay, and stood there starring out at what was left of the countryside. Fire and rock. That was all that remained of the lushlandscape that he used to stare out at, in the good days. With a sigh, Robertson turned and made for his quarters. He didn't have any assignments until the Paris team arrived, at which point he would take over possession of the "sample", and see it through to the labs. They had been hunting for these samples for almost a week now, and had laid hands on half a dozen of them, at the cost of many men. The samples in question were in fact fragments of one of the relics found in the Martian underground by UAC scientists, that went by the name of Soul cube, and had been stored in the highest security areas of the UAC complexes of Earth.

Although this technology seemed way beyond anything they currently possessed, when the demons came to Earth, Robertson's division had immediately begun searching for these samples. Their ultimate objective was to gather enough knowledge about the artefact to begin _creating _them, or at least one of them, which they would later be able to use against the demons. Of course, Robertson thought, this was a one-out-of-a-million attempt, and it was probably doomed from the beginning, but hell, it was worth trying. Robertson's division was not an all-scientist division as could have been expected, but more of a military one. Most of his personnel had been, in the days of the UAC, assigned to the defence of its ground-based facilities on Earth. When the invasion began, the division had reassembled as best it could to try and figure out a way of countering the assault. "Now though", he thought, "it would be too late anyway". "Even if we do repel the demons, there won't be anything left to save".

"I think you should check this out sir..." Said a tech as Robertson passed by.

Leaning down over the man's shoulder, he peered at the dark infrared screen in front of him. The area represented the base and its whereabouts, seen through an energy filter. A dozen areas were glowing brilliant red and little numbers beside them were climbing 87...88 . Power build ups.

"Damn" Muttered Robertson under his breath. "When did this start?"

"Only half an hour ago, and its been growing at an awesome rate."

"These portals must have already been opened earlier" He mumbled to himself. "All right, seal all exterior entrances. Activate point-defence turrets, and make ready all personnel. We're liable to have some uninvited guests arriving soon. Can you determine what's coming through?"

"Nothing accurate so far, but it looks big. Knights or Mancubus I would guess. Things are going to get very hot in about...1 minute and forty seven seconds, sir."

Robertson barked a few orders, and people began rushing around, a voice boomed over the general com, as hisses indicated that every window and exterior door was sealing itself hermetically. Techs rushed from their posts into the bunkers at the centre of the base, scientists gathered as much material as they could before joining in the rush, while a company of armed men rushed past Robertson, heading for the main entrance.

"Fifty seconds before contact" Boomed the voice over the intercom.

Robertson secured a weapon and made full speed to the entrance hall. He passed several barricades located around doors or windowed bays, until he finally reached the main hall's defensive positions. Men were rushing around everywhere, carrying ammo and weapons, barking orders to each other, and causing a general sort of panicked chaos. Robertson settled himself behind a rampart located on the hall's west side, and took point behind a fixed machine gun emplacement.

"Twenty seconds" Sounded the com.

A large roaring sound was coming from outside, as of a massive bonfire. Wind was blowing harder and harder, and suddenly they heard an explosion and a dull thud...above them. All eyes turned up to see a dent in the roof. With a smashing sound, a great fist came ploughing through the steel roof, even as others beganhammering against the doors. Some men snapped off a few shots at the grappling hand, making it withdraw for a few seconds. The sound of gunfire erupted further down in the hallways, along with cries of fear and pain. The demons had gotten in much faster than they had hoped for. Even as this thought crossed Robertson's mind, the main door smashed open and a pair of Mancubus stepped inside, guns blazing. A large ball of fire hit the bunker next to his, and engulfed its occupants in flame. Virtually everyone in the hall retaliated, sending a wall of lead to meat the approaching demons. The two creatures were torn down, only to leave place to a Hell Knight and at least a dozen imps. The spidery-like creatures climbed along the wall and roof, dropping on top of the men or making great leaping jumps from the other side of the hall. Fire now went steadily in both ways, as the demons sent back a real inferno of red death. An all-out battle had erupted between the armed humans and the agile demons. Blood was spraying in all directions, and Robertson levelled his rifle for a blast at an imp that was charging at him from the main door. His shotshit the creature in the stomach, making it trip and fall flat on its nose, guts pouring out of its abdomen.

A roar came from behind him, and Robertson turned to see an imp drop right behind him and raise his arm in a menacing gesture. He dodged the fireball by rolling to the side and opened fire. His bullets caught the creature in the side, sending it tumbling backwards with a death gargle. Explosions began sounding down the west corridor, as the heavy ballistics team engaged the enemy. The situation was slipping out of control…they wouldn't hold out very long.

"Goddamn it!" Muttered Robertson.

Half a dozen imps clambered over the wall of his bunker and forced him and another couple of men backwards. Those who stood their ground, fell. They backed away, still firing, into the further retrenchments of the base. Robertson could see that the other bunker was not in a much better situation. Flames were rising out of it, and he couldn't see any sign of survivors. Even as he turned to break into a full run, the voice over the intercom barked:

"Main hall has been taken. Teams one and two, fall back to defensive positions theta. Sections one through four invaded. All marines in the area, fall back to the core bunkers."

Any survivors in the hall fled at that moment, running back down the hallways that led into the base. Robertson ran for at least five minutes, until he reached a grisly scene that made hi stop dead in his tracks. In front of him, five men lay slaughtered on the ground, their innards strewn across the place. The wall had a gaping hole in it, which quite clearly indicated where the perpetrator had come from. Gazing up, Robertson saw a sign that caused a low "shit!" to escape his lips. The sign read "Sector two". He had landed in the middle of an invaded area. Theta defensive positions must be miles away ! A low growl came from behind him, and he spun around to see nothing. A fast thumping sound was approaching however, as of pounding feet. _Not good._ Robertson broke into a full run, taking a random direction, praying to come across some survivors, maybe even reach Theta position if he could find it. Over the intercom, the voice broke out again:

"Sections five through eight have been taken. All personnel must immediately retreat to the core bunkers. Nuke will be armed in fired in exactly three minutes. All personnel who are not in the bunkers at that time will be terminated."

The voice was cut off by a great roar coming from right behind him. Something crashed through the wall on his right, and Robertson stared in horror as a Hell Knight came charging at him. The beast's savage mouth was drooling in anticipation of its next meal. Robertson ran for his life, darted around a corner and leapt down several flights of stairs, the large demon still close behind him. He found himself in the dimly lit underground facilities. These were the lab areas, and further down the road…were the core bunkers. With a new ray of hope in him, Robertson began running along the deserted dark corridors. It seemed almost too deserted however. If all the personnel had been called back to the core bunkers, there should at least be _someone_ here, he thought…low growls came through several doorways as he ran by, however, and his blood chilled. What the fuck…not _here_ !

Even as horrible thoughts darted across his mind, a pair of imps leapt out from behind an upturned desk and barred the way, shrieking at him. Thumping sounds from behind him indicated the Hell Knight was still in hot pursuit. He was trapped. He levelled his rifle and tore away at the two creatures, but they dodged the bullets with amazing agility. What the hell were they playing at? He fired until his entire clip, before realising what they were trying to do. Oh my…

Giant fingers closed around his waist as the Hell Knight finally caught up with him. A huge hand gripped his rifle and wrenched the weapon out of his hand, dislocating his shoulder in the process. Robertson cried out in pain.

"A barrage…they were slowing me down…they were in league with the Knight…I'm fucked…"

Those were the last thoughts that crossed his mind, as the creature brought his head up to his jaws, Robertson could see gleaming fangs dripping with blood and drool, and then everything went black.

To be continued.


End file.
